Wednesday morning saw the announcement of all nominations for the third annual Global Poker Index American Poker Awards, which take place Thursday February 23 at the Sofitel Beverley Hills in Los Angeles.

It’s World Poker Tour host and all-round legend of the game Mike Sexton who headlines the nominations with three. Sexton is up for Tournament Performance of the Year and Moment of the Year for his win at the WPT Montreal. Away from the tables, Sexton has also been recognized in the Best Media Content category for his book Life’s a Gamble.

Joining Sexton in the Tournament Performance of the Year category are Ari Engel for his Aussie Millions Main Event win, Kristen Bicknell for her bracelet victory in the WSOP No Limit Hold’em Bounty event, and Maurice Hawkins for his WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event success.

Engel and Hawkins are also both nominated for Breakout Performance of the Year, along with Ankush Mandavia and Sam Soverel.

PocketFives’ very own President and Editor In Chief Lance Bradley is up for two awards: Best Media Content for his article Bob, Charlie and a Life-Changing WSOP Main Event Journey, and for Media Person of the Year.

“It’s such an honor to be nominated for two American Poker Awards. In both categories I’m thrilled to find myself amongst people that are not only colleagues, but friends as well,” said Bradley. “The fact that my piece about Bob and Charlie has resonated with so many, both inside and outside of the poker world, means the world to me. Being able to write stories like that is one of the many, many reasons I love covering poker.”

Up against Bradley for Media Person of the Year are Sarah Herring, Joe Stapleton and David Tuchman. Meanwhile, joining Sexton and Bradley in Media Content of the Year recognition are Matthew Showell for Stu Ungar’s Last Chance Gone Wrong and Jason Somerville for his Aussie Millions Twitch stream.

The Moment of the Year category is sure to be an interesting one. You have Griffin Benger’s infamous AA vs KK clash with William Kassouf in the WSOP Main Event; Jason Mercier’s WSOP heater that saw him win two bracelets, come second in another event (and almost bank an extra $1.8 million from Vanessa Selbst); David Peters finishing third at EPT Prague to snatch the GPI Player of the Year title from Fedor Holz; and the aforementioned Sexton WPT victory.

Two new awards have been introduced this year: Twitch Streamer of the Year and Podcast of the Year. The nominees for Twitch Streamer are a line-up of the usual suspects: Jason ‘jcarverpoker’ Somerville, Jaime ‘PokerStaples’ Staples, Kevin ‘KevinMartin987’ Martin and Parker ‘TonkaaaP’ Talbot. Daniel Negreanu (Full Contact Poker) is up against Joe Ingram (Poker Life Podcast), Matthew Parvis and Sarah Herring (PokerNews Podcast) and Adam Schwartz, Terrence Chan and Ross Henry (TwoPlusTwo PokerCast) in the Podcast of the Year category.

The only awards that have already been decided go to David Peters and Cate Hall for GPI Player of the Year and GPI Female Player of the Year, respectively.

For all nominations, see below.

TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• Kristen Bicknell, WSOP No Limit Hold’em Bounty
• Ari Engel, Aussie Millions Main Event
• Maurice Hawkins, WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event
• Mike Sexton, WPT Montreal

MOMENT OF THE YEAR

• Griffin Benger’s AA vs William Kassouf’s KK showdown in the WSOP Main Event
• Jason Mercier goes on historic one-week heater at the World Series of Poker
• David Peters, needing 3rd at EPT Prague to take GPI PoY from Fedor Holz, does exactly that
• Mike Sexton mounts incredible comeback to win first WPT title in Montreal

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• Ari Engel
• Maurice Hawkins
• Ankush Mandavia
• Sam Soverel

EVENT OF THE YEAR

• Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, FL
• Super High Roller Bowl, ARIA, Las Vegas
• WSOP Main Event, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
• WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Bellagio, Las Vegas

MID-MAJOR CIRCUIT OF THE YEAR

• Heartland Poker Tour
• Mid-States Poker Tour
• WPTDeepStacks
• WSOP Circuit

INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE YEAR

• Tony Burns, Seminole Hard Rock Tournament Director
• Jack Effel, WSOP VP International Poker Operations & WSOP Director
• Sean McCormack, ARIA Director of Poker Operations
• Matt Savage, WPT Executive Tour Director & TDA Founder

MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR

• Lance Bradley
• Sarah Herring
• Joseph Stapleton
• David Tuchman

PODCAST OF THE YEAR

• Full Contact Poker (Daniel Negreanu)
• Poker Life Podcast (Joe Ingram)
• PokerNews Podcast (Sarah Herring, Matthew Parvis)
• TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)

MEDIA CONTENT OF THE YEAR

• Bob, Charlie and a Life-Changing WSOP Main Event Journey (Lance Bradley, PocketFives)
• Life’s a Gamble (Mike Sexton)
• Stu Ungar’s Last Chance Gone Wrong (Matthew Showell, PokerListings)
• Twitch coverage of the Aussie Millions (Jason Somerville)

TWITCH STREAMER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Martin ‘KevinMartin987’
Jason Somerville ‘jcarverpoker’
Jaime Staples ‘PokerStaples’
Parker Talbot ‘tonkaaaP’

*Finalists for Twitch Streamer of the Year were selected by Twitch, however the members of the GPI American Poker Awards Jury will select the winner of this year’s Award.